The local returns are now in

Former players Blackwood, Schmidt back in county as baseball coaches

First-year B-CC baseball coach John Schmidt is a former Blake standout.

Scott Blackwood and John Schmidt started this decade much like the one that just ended: on a county baseball diamond, sporting a cap, a pair of spikes and a uniform.

There is one difference. Blackwood and Schmidt spend much more time in their teams' dugouts than on the field.

The pair are no longer flashing the leather, or an aluminum bat, but a line-up sheet instead. They are the new coaches of the Churchill and Bethesda-Chevy Chase high school baseball programs, respectively.

"I feel lucky to be able to coach in this county, especially with all the great coaches that are in Montgomery County," Blackwood said. "It was great to go to the preseason coaches' meeting and see some of the coaches that were coaching when I played. It was nice to make them feel old."

It was not that long ago both Blackwood and Schmidt were playing. Blackwood graduated in 2002 after a three-year varsity career at Quince Orchard, where he was a slick-fielding shortstop with some pop in his bat, including a .381 average with two home runs and 13 runs batted in as a senior.

Blackwood found his way to Montgomery College-Rockville for two solid seasons, which were separated by injury. He then called an end to his playing career to finish his education at Salisbury University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical education. He has since parlayed that degree into a paraeducator position at Jones Lane Elementary in Gaithersburg.

He was an assistant at Seneca Valley High under former coach Michael Gibson and MC-Rockville under former manager Tom Schaeffer. With that experience under his belt, Blackwood threw his hat into the ring for the open Churchill post.

He takes over a program that won just six games a year ago and has not gone deep in the playoffs in recent seasons. The Bulldogs' season and Blackwood's head coaching debut were set to take place Monday against county powerhouse Sherwood.

"Our goal for this year is to win more games than we lost the previous year," Blackwood said. "We want to improve from year to year and even from day to day. I'm putting a lot of the responsibility on these kids. ... My coaching staff and I will give them the tools to be successful. It is up to them to put in the work it takes to be successful."

Schmidt experienced quite bit of team and individual success while playing for Blake High, Cissel Saxon Post 41 and Catholic University. He was part of the first graduating class at Blake in 2001 and helped the Bengals  through his pitching, defense at third and hitting  reach the Class 2A state final as a senior before falling to Centennial, 6-4.

Schmidt was able to capture that elusive state championship during the summer of '01 as a member of the American Legion Post 41 squad before becoming a four-year starter at third base and a two-year starter on the mound for Catholic. He was a two-year captain for manager Ross Natoli and earned all-conference honors one season.

Since that time, Schmidt earned his coaching stripes as an assistant at Georgetown Prep (2006), Blake (2008) and Catholic (2009). He also served as the Blake junior varsity coach in 2007.

"I ... knew that Jon Green, who was with the Blake baseball program when I was playing, and Karen Lockard, who taught at Blake when I was there, were assistant principal and principal at B-CC," said Schmidt, who is a social studies teacher at Farquhar Middle School in Olney.

"It's exciting to be coaching in the same county, because I am familiar with most of the programs. I have also stayed in touch with a lot of county coaches while at Catholic, where I recruited some players from the county."

Schmidt has less rebuilding to do than Blackwood. He inherited a program that compiled a 9-8 mark a year ago and returns some talented players from that squad. The Barons do move up to Class 4A, however, and open against Gaithersburg and Trojans ace Nick Riley.

"We are expecting big things for our guys this year," said Schmidt, whose brother Mike, also a former Bengal, is on his staff. "We have a good mesh of returning players and JV players that moved up. ... We have a great group of guys that have really bought into what our coaching staff is teaching."